One
by Ettore
Summary: The first time Naruto uses Kurama's chakra in Wave, the seal malfunctions, and then Naruto and Kurama were no more. Now they were One. A perfect fusion of their consciousness and power. Bijuu-level Naruto from the start, WAAAAAY OOC.
1. Chapter 1

Confusion.

The absolutely foreign, and familiar feeling of incredible power confounded him. Where had this power come from? Obviously it was His mighty chakra, but it was obviously not his own. Why did he think it was his? Because it _was_ His, of course. He was Kurama! The Greatest of the nine Bijuu! But wasn't he Uzumaki Naruto? He gained this rush of power as He was freed from his prison when he saw his best friend, that brat with those disgusting eyes, jump in front of the needles destined for His heart. He saved His life, as he should have. The child was a mere human while He was a Tailed Beast, of course they should worship and sacrifice themselves for... but wasn't that wrong? Wasn't it wrong for him to spit on the memory of his closest friend? the only one who could understand him? Of course not, those pathetic humans should learn their place! HE was the only one that mattered anymore. After this world has withered to dust He would remain. But did he want that? What was the point of His continued existence if he had no reason to live? With a start, He realized that he was still in the midst of battle.

"I wish I did not have to kill him. He was a noble shinobi." said the Ice child. Narut-Kura-NARUTO looked over at the one called Sasuke, his limp and unmoving form stoking His rage at the Cold girl. He looked at her with bright violet eyes. Now was not the time for thinking, now was the time for killing... fighting.

Without warning, deep purple chakra blasted from his body, encasing him in a shroud of energy with three tails floating behind him.

"Hmm, this is too much stress for this body." he stated aloud before two of the tails disappeared into thin air. Then he also vanished.

Haku had mere seconds to contemplate what she was seeing before Naruto vanished. A split second later her body erupted in pain. She tumbled across the ground as she struggled to breathe.

"You are lucky," Naruto said, "I want to kill you, but I don't want to do something like that."

Haku stood shakily and, in her dazed state, struggled to make sense of a situation that would have confused her normally, "What are you? You are obviously not Naruto-kun. You look and sound completely different."

"I will be Naruto for now, until I can be both me and Me." he said, confusing her further. She saw the violet tail waving behind him and gasped. He was a Jinchuuriki! She had to get Zabuza, they needed to retreat.

Just then, the mist cleared to show that Kakashi and Zabuza had stopped fighting each other and were facing towards a small army of bandits, led by a short man in a suit.

Naruto calmly walked next to Kakashi, whose eyes widened he saw the cloak surrounding the boy.

"Naruto?" he asked apprehensively, "Are you okay?"

"This one is very confused, but questions can be answered after the killing." said the boy. Kakashi was extremely worried now, and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the short man shouting.

"How disappointing, Zabuza. You couldn't even kill a small team of brats. I guess that means you're not getting paid after all." Gato said with a smirk, "Alright boys! Whoever brings me a head keeps the bounty! Show them why-" he was cut off when a massive feeling of oppression weighed down on everyone there. Gato looked at the boy with the orange hair. He saw His eyes, and that was his mistake.

Gato clutched at his heart at it erupted in pain. He barely noticed his little army dispersing and fleeing behind him. He collapsed to the ground weakly, trembling in fear and pain. One pulse made him clench his eyes shut. When he opened them he saw the monster boy standing over his supine form, a translucent tail poised above the short man's chest. Then the world ceased to exist for him as pain was all he knew, then nothing.

Naruto removed His tail from the weakling's chest, and turned back to his teacher and the demon-man. He walked over and stood in front of them, noticing their tense postures and fearful expressions. He was confused, "Kakashi-sensei, why are you looking at me like that? You as well demon-Zabuza? The one giving you money is dead, so you have no reason to fight-kill us?" he phrased the last part like a question even though it seemed to be a statement.

"Naruto, it's over, you can calm down now." said Kakashi calmly.

"Calm? I am calm. You are the not-calm one." Naruto stated with confusion, before his face showed realization, "Oh, you mean My chakra. It makes you fear. Okay."

The chakra cloak surrounding him disappeared and he turned back to them, "Is this bett...er..."

Then his body betrayed him, as he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Okay, so I know this first chapter is confusing. That is its' purpose.**

 **The main idea for this story is a simple malfunction in the seal that bound Naruto's soul to Kurama's, resulting in a fusion of their personalities and chakra.**

 **This is an idea that most of you have probably read about at some point, but I wanted to do it in my own way. Also an amusing fact, this idea was actually spawned by the Gem Fusions from Steven universe.**

 **Rest assured, there will be nothing from that show actually placed in here, but I liked the idea of the fusion. Let me know what you think, I am writing this as relief because I'm an ADHD kid and I can't focus on one project at a time.**

 **The cover image is what Naruto/Kurama in this story looks like, and is an image from the internet I was unable to source. It was originally just Naruto with Kurama's eyes, but I edited it to suit my own purposes.**


	2. Chapter 2

.

Naruto felt that he was laying on a bed, and that by itself didn't matter. What mattered was that his chakra was unusually weak. He opened his eyes and looked down at his bare chest, where a seal was written that connected and wrapped around where the seal on his navel should be. Annoyance flickered across his face and he pulsed His chakra past the seal which burned white hot for a split second before it returned to black and Naruto could feel his chakra again.

The door to the room swung open and Kakashi could be seen in the doorway. He looked at Naruto and warily relaxed his posture.

"Is that fear-look going to become a habit?" Naruto asked bored.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but that seal is preventing the Kyuubi's chakra from entering your system. We're going to have to get it fixed when when we get back to Konoha." explained Kakashi, "From the looks of it the chakra is barely being held back."

"It's not being held back at all." said Naruto.

"What?"

"What is left on my chest is ink. There is no chakra there. I burned it off." Naruto stated calmly.

Kakashi immediately tensed up again. He noticed Naruto was speaking differently, "Are you the Kyuubi?" he asked warily.

"I am Kurama of the Nine Tails, but I am also Naruto Uzumaki of Leaf. I am still confused about what happened to make us... me... this way. I got angry when the Uchiha vermin died, and called upon My chakra. I tried to get through a gap in the seal that allowed My chakra through, I wanted to influence and take my body from myself. But there was a short burst of the most intense pain I have felt in my lives, and then I existed. Naruto and Kurama were no more, and I was me." Naruto's explanation, as confusing as it was, was enough for Kakashi to understand a little bit of what was going on.

Kakashi looked distressed, "Naruto is dead then?"

"No. I am still Naruto, I'm just Kurama too. I am not two things, and I am not one thing. I remember everything, though. Everything. Like who my parents are." Naruto said with an annoyed expression.

Kakashi's eyes widened, "You know who your father is?"

"I know that as well, My father is the Hagoromo Otsutsuki. But I am speaking of my Dad. He was Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, and my Mom was My previous vessel. They are not part of my memories, but My memories say otherwise. It is... strange... at the very least, to look through your own eyes at someone you recognize as yourself. It is a paradox that makes my skull creak." Naruto said.

"The way you talk, is way different from how Naruto usually talks. If you were to give a guess, how much of Naruto do you have compared to how much Kyuubi?" Kakashi requested.

"I have all of Naruto, and I have half of Kurama. But the half of Kurama is still far greater that all of Naruto, because that half is Kurama's mind and chakra. Naruto is still there though, and still on the surface, so I guess you could say I am half Naruto and half Kurama." Naruto stated.

Kakashi nodded, "So, what are you planning now?" he asked.

"I will not attack Konoha. You cannot hide your intentions from me. I did not wish to attack Konoha in the first place. But that is a story for the Hokage. Not a story for the little rats hiding behind the door frame." Naruto said while looking at the door.

Kakashi whipped around, "Come out!" he said sternly.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Inari stepped out with fearful expressions or, in Sasuke's case, an irritated and confused frown on his face.

"How much did you hear?" asked Kakashi.

Sasuke answered,"We came when we felt that chakra. When we got here Naruto was calling himself the Kyuubi, which I find hard to believe."

"Yeah Naruto, you expect us to believe that you're the Kyuubi? Stop trying to act as cool as Sasuke, you'll never get there." Sakura said with her hands on her hips.

"Sakura." Kakashi warned.

"Silence child, you're annoying me." Naruto said.

Everyone was taken aback, Naruto never spoke to Sakura like that.

"You idiot! Don't tell me to shut up! Just because we don't believe you doesn't mean you can talk like you're better than us! You couldn't even beat me in a fight, so how about YOU shut up!" shouted Sakura furiously.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her and bared his elongated canines slightly, which Kakashi took as a sign.

"Alright, everybody out. Now." said Kakashi sternly.

The other genin and Inari, who was surprisingly silent throughout the exchange, left the room staring at Naruto the whole way.

Naruto looked at Kakashi. Not even his mask could hide the fact that he had a question on his face.

"What is your plan though? This is going to cause a lot of trouble when we get back to the village, you know." said Kakashi.

"Kurama's goal was to be free from the seal. Now that his goal is accomplished, the only goal I have left is Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage. I guess I'll start there." Naruto said.

"Well, you can speak to Sarutobi-sama about that when we get back to Konoha. Speaking of which, we've been waiting for you to wake up so we can leave. Get dressed, then we can go." said Kakashi while gesturing to the spare clothes scroll that Naruto had with him.

After Kakashi had left the room, Naruto unsealed his clothes from the scroll, which immediately caught fire. Naruto yelped as his hand was burned before glaring at the flames, which were extinguished by his chakra. Naruto heard a knock at the door before Kakashi said, "You okay in there?"

"I am fine. My chakra caught the scroll on fire. It suprised me." said Naruto.

As the sound of footsteps left the door, Naruto put his clothes on. White T-shirt and black pants. He brushed the ashes into the wastebasket and picked up the chair they rested on before walking out the door.

He saw everybody waiting for him when he got downstairs, and he immediately looked at Tsunami, "I'm sorry. I uh, burned your chair when I was changing." He held up the chair for emphasis.

Everybody looked at him in confusion. Tsunami broke out of it before the others, "That's okay, Naruto. Just one more thing to remember you by."

Inari walked up and hugged Naruto around the waist. Naruto tensed up before quickly relaxing.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Inari tearfully.

"... Inari, I'm fine. What do you mean?" asked Naruto gently.

"Your hair is orange, your eyes are purple and weird, your voice is deeper and you're even acting different. Do you have some weird disease?" Inari asked.

"Haha, no. There's nothing wrong with me, Inari. I'm just whole. The Naruto you knew before is only half of me. He's still here though." Naruto said. Inari seemed to accept the answer and let go of Naruto. Everybody was looking at him strangely, save Kakashi and the civilians. Kakashi expected the strangeness and Tsunami and Tazuna already accepted it as another ninja thing.

Naruto looked at Tazuna, "I hope everything worked out the way you wanted it to. I'll visit sometime in the future."

Tazuna smirked, "What makes you think I care about that?"

"I can sense your trepidation." Naruto stated simply.

Kakashi clapped his hands once, "Alright, you guys want to take the main road or the forest to the bridge?"

"I don't care." said Sasuke. Sakura just agreed.

"The forest. I'm not adapted enough to process so many people's emotions yet." stated Naruto.

Kakashi resolved to ask what that meant once they left the village.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they stepped off the bridge before Kakashi asked, "Okay Naruto, it's been a while since you woke up, do you think you can tone down your chakra? It's very unnerving."

Naruto looked confused, but tried anyway. After a moment of concentration, Naruto held up a half ram seal and focused harder. Nothing happened.

"I can't. I didn't even notice I was putting out enough to feel, is it really that bad?" asked Naruto.

"Yes Naruto, you've been pumping out boatloads of chakra since you woke up. That's why that departure was so awkward." Kakashi said.

Naruto closed his eyes and one by one clenched and released every muscle in his body. The others were looking at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Uh, what are you doing, dobe?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto didn't respond at first, then he stopped and opened his eyes. He looked at Kakashi, "It seems my first Limiter is stuck open. Since Naruto and Kurama's chakra is fused, it means I'm stuck in the initial Jinchuuriki stage. The one just before a tail forms."

"What do you mean by- Oh no. You mean your first Gate is stuck open?! That will severely damage your body if it hasn't already!" Kakashi said urgently.

"No it won't, my body is healing too quickly. But I still don't want to be a beacon." Naruto's skin turned red from exertion as he forced the gate shut with his chakra.

"There."

Kakashi was stunned, "Naruto, shutting a gate like that takes immense practice."

"Kurama's body was made of condensed elemental chakra. My entire existence was a change in form and nature. This is nothing in comparison." Naruto grimaced, "Still hurt really bad though."

Kakashi sighed then perked up, "Oh yeah, what did you mean when you said you couldn't handle being in public?"

"It wasn't the public. Their emotions from being freed would no doubt be intense, I didn't want to sift through a village's worth of that."

"What do you mean? Why would you feel their emotions at all?"

"Kurama has the ability to sense emotion. It is how I evaded humanity all these centuries." Naruto stated factually.

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Kakashi saw him, "My ORDER still stands Sasuke."

"...fine."

Kakashi shook his head as he called a messenger hawk with his chakra.

The Hokage was going to need a warning.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the orange haired boy in his office claiming to be both Naruto and the Kyuubi.

His hair wasn't the only thing that was different. His eyes were purple and slitted, his face was more angular and defined, he could see fangs poking out of his top lip, and his whisker marks now looked like large scars instead of lines of discolored skin.

"What proof can you give me that you're not just the Kyuubi?" Sarutobi asked politely.

"I can show you my chakra. Kurama witnessed Naruto's life through his eyes, so any memory test wouldn't work. I don't know of any other way, so maybe showing you my chakra cloak would help ease your suspicions." Naruto replied.

"I fail to understand how showing me the Kyuubi's chakra cloak would help your situation." Sarutobi said.

"Because you know what Kurama's cloak looked and felt like. My chakra would feel much different." Naruto said.

"I'm still not certain that's the best idea. What if you lose control?" Sarutobi asked.

"It is my chakra now. Have you ever lost control of your own chakra? I don't know if Kakashi noticed, but the seal is completely gone. The Shinigami's handwriting no longer resides on my stomach. Neither does Dad's." Naruto said assuringly.

Hiruzen paled and looked to Kakashi, "Did you tell him?"

"No, he remembered." said Kakashi. He had no doubts Naruto was what he said he was.

The old Hokage looked back at Naruto and rubbed his forehead,"Fine, but let me put up chakra seals so the village doesn't feel it." Sarutobi said.

After more than ten handsigns, he placed his hands on the wall and sent two lines of sealscript around the wall , floor and ceiling.

"Alright, Naruto. Go ahead." the Hokage said.

Naruto nodded. Violet chakra burst from him the instant he willed it. Within seconds, a cloak and tail had been formed.

Sarutobi was caught off guard. He didn't expect him to pull a tail out right away! He looked at the sealscript and saw it about to break, "Naruto! Pull it back, the seals can't take it!"

Naruto quickly suppressed his chakra till it was just a fine purple mist floating around him. Now that it had calmed, Hiruzen was able to tell what the difference was. It still felt wild and untamed, but now it felt more... innocent. Not weak, by any means. It just lacked the murderous intent that typically accompanied the Kyuubi's chakra. If anything it just felt excitable. Bot no less oppressing. It still bore down on you with a weight of power, but now it felt like an animal that was excited about something.

"Okay Naruto, I see what you meant. You can turn it off now." Hiruzen said.

Naruto did so, but frowned, "Turn it off? That seems a bit simplistic, doesn't it? That's like 'Turn off your arm so you don't hurt your buddy in a spar!' Who says that?"

Sarutobi looked at him strangely, "Right. Well, We have to keep this secret. However Naruto, you must realize that the villagers are not going to react pleasantly to this new change."

"As long as they do not attack me with intent to kill, then we'll be fine. If they do, it will be well within my rights to execute them." Naruto stated bluntly.

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, "Naruto, you have to understand your very unique position. If you kill a civilian, no matter the cause, the village will call for your head."

"Then they can have it. My chakra has acclimate to being in a human body. It won't be too much trouble to take over another vessel if they decide to decapitate this one. I might even be able to come back in a couple months instead of three years with the aid of a developed chakra circulatory system. I've been studying my Tenketsu, and they are certainly interesting." Naruto replied offhandedly.

The aged Hokage sighed, "Just promise me you won't retaliate unless the person actually has a chance of killing you."

"...I can agree to that." Naruto relented

When he concluded that Naruto was not a threat, he dismissed him and his teacher.

After they left, Hiruzen pulled a thick book out of his robes, "This definitely goes in the Legacy Journal."

* * *

 **Aaaaaaaand I wound up posting this almost immediately after my new story, Silver Lining. I thought it would take longer but my insomnia kicked in. I will have people know right now that I am not a quick writer. I'm not someone who can do 30k chapters in a month, like other authors on this site.**

 **Like I said before, I'm moving. I have lived in this house of seven people for ten years, so there's an assload and a half of stuff we have to move.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, READ THIS! PLEASE! I did not steal the stories I recently posted on this account from Gonome7. I AM GONOME7! If you look at the first chapter of every story on that account, you'll notice that every one, and my profile, has a message to the readers, redirecting them to here because I PUT IT THERE. I keep getting PMs and reviews on my old account that I have not used since I was a sophomore in _high school_ (I am in college now) about the fact that Ettore stole my fanfiction. If any of them would have read the update that was in bolded caps and titled "MOVING", they would have known this. **

**Please don't report me because I moved my stories here. That would suck major balls if I lost my account for something I didn't do.**

* * *

Naruto walked straight towards his favorite food stand. He knew that not even his new state would keep him from Ichiraku Ramen.

Kakashi had gone back inside when he said he forgot something in his report. Probably whatever happened with Zabuza and Haku that everyone decided to omit for some reason.

Naruto didn't care, he knew with how the village was governed that there was going to be a council meeting regarding him soon, so he had other things to worry about.

Despite his bravado in the office, he was not eager to be decapitated yet, and too much resistance to an attack would involve the people he still considered his friends. He wouldn't lie down and take it, but neither would he want to hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.

He brushed the cloth aside and sat at one of the stools in the ramen shop. Teuchi turned around and looked at him, "Welcome to Ichiraku ra- Naruto!? Is that you? What happened to you?"

Naruto looked down from the overhead menu and smiled, "Hey old man. Some things happened on my mission, and now I look different. It's okay though, I'm still me!"

Teuchi frowned and leaned in, "Does it have to do with your tenant?" he whispered. Naruto had told him and his daughter, Ayame immediately when he found out after the Genin exam, but was told that they already knew, and still served him happily. His respect for them grew after that.

"In a sense. Kur... Kyuubi essentially fused with me. Or I guess another way to say it would be I fused with Naruto. I'm both Kyuubi and Naruto now, but I've been calling myself Naruto still. It's just easier. Imagine two ores being smelted down to create an alloy stronger than the two original parts. I'm actually not supposed to tell anyone about this, but I trust you more than most." Naruto explained quietly.

Teuchi wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just shook his head and said, "Well whatever happened, you're still Naruto to me. Now what can I get you?"

"Two bowls of miso ramen with pork." Naruto answered, "By the way, where's Ayame?"

"She's at home studying, she has an exam next week for her nursing school." Teuchi answered as he made Naruto's ramen.

"That's right, how many more tests does she need?" Naruto asked.

"This is actually her last one," said Teuchi as he gave Naruto his first bowl, "I have no doubt she'll ace it, even without studying. Ayame is just being careful, she's got a lot riding on it."

Naruto began eating right away, "Well she deserves it. No offense, Teuchi. But I don't think she'll want to keep working here forever." He took another bite.

"You're talking a lot differently, you sound like an adult." said Teuchi while he set Naruto's second bowl down next to his first.

"While Naruto was only twelve, Kur... Kyuubi... actually, I'm just going to say it. Kurama was the Kyuubi's name. Anyway, Kurama has been around for almost a thousand years. It's really weird. My memories all contradict each other. I remember growing up here in Konoha, but I also remember the centuries before that. Before Hashirama and _Madara_ were even born. It gives me a headache whenever I think about it." Naruto said while rubbing his eyes. He finished off his bowl and started on the other one.

"That... does sound difficult. I can't even imagine what that's like." said Teuchi. They just sat in comfortable silence as Naruto continued to eat. After a couple moments he finished and paid Teuchi, thanking him for the meal. He left the stand and began walking towards his apartment. On his way, he heard someone shouting.

"Let me go!"

"It was my fault, leave him alone!"

"I think I need to teach this brat some manners."

Naruto turned the corners quickly and was met with the sight of a guy in a black suit of some kind about to hit Konohamaru, who was being held by his shirt.

"What is going on here!" Naruto bellowed, making everybody jump.

The guy in the suit glared at Naruto, "Mind your own business, brat."

Naruto appeared in front of him, grabbing both of his wrists and squeezing them to force him to let the boy go, but not relinquishing his grip even then. A popping sound met the ears of everyone there, but Naruto's victim managed to wrench his hands away and jump back. He reached for the wrapped up package on his back, and the girl standing behind him yelled, "Don't do something stupid!"

"Shut up, Temari." he growled before he heard his name, "Kankuro."

He immediately blanched and looked up, "Oh, hey Gaara." he said weakly.

Everyone followed his gaze to a red haired boy about the same size as Naruto.

The boy glowered menacingly, "Shut up. You are weaker than both myself and Temari. You have no room to insult her. Keep talking and I'll kill you." He appeared on the ground in a swirl of sand, and immediately looked towards Naruto.

Naruto stared right back at him. He wasn't intimidated in the least by Gaara.

Gaara smirked, "Shukaku seems to know you, he's screaming for your blood."

"My idiotic little brother is always screaming for blood. He knows nothing else. Not since his pride destroyed him." Naruto said.

Gaara was confused, the beast in his head was screaming even louder, "Who are you?"

"You may call me Naruto, but Shukaku knows me as Kurama." Naruto said, and smirked when Gaara gripped his head in pain.

"Shukaku wants your blood. NOW!" Gaara shouted like a maniac while increasing the pressure of his chakra.

Naruto instantly formed a tailed cloak, and the power the two were emanating was starting to crack the ground. In an instant they were surrounded by two ANBU and the Hokage, who came when they felt the killing intent start rising.

"Naruto! Stand down!" shouted the Hokage.

"I am not attacking, I am merely preparing to stop him from killing any bystanders." Naruto said calmly.

Hiruzen nodded, before looking at Gaara. The red haired boy was breathing heavily while staring at Naruto with bloodlust.

"I don't know who you think you are, boy, but you will lower your chakra and intent, or I will kill you." said Sarutobi.

Gaara glared at the Hokage before complying. He made to walk away, but the two ANBU cut him off.

"You will be escorted to a high security cell where you will remain until further notice." said Hiruzen, "If you try to escape or cause harm, I will consider it an act of war. You will be killed, and Suna will have to pay for it."

* * *

Naruto stood in the Hokage's office for the second time in as many hours.

Hiruzen sighed, "What happened out there Naruto? And why did you provoke him?"

"I didn't provoke him. I said my name, and he started screaming about Shukaku wanting my blood. He raised his chakra, which was heavily contaminated by Shukaku's youki, and I responded by drawing out a tail for a couple of reasons. One, I enjoy the feeling of freedom, two, I didn't want bystanders to be injured, my first move would be to throw him out of the village, three, I was making a beacon to all of the shinobi, and four, that runt thought he could get away with threatening me." Naruto listed off.

"Well, an emergency council meeting was called and I know they want you there. May as well get it over with." Hiruzen said. Naruto nodded, and they moved to the back portion of the tower, where the council chambers were located.

Hiruzen stopped outside the door, and took a deep breath before walking in. Immediately upon seeing Naruto at his side, and what he looked like, the council began murmuring amongst themselves.

"Hokage-sama." said an old man with bandages over half his body, "The entire shinobi population felt a massive chakra output, regardless of ability. Is there a threat we need to be made aware of?"

The Hokage sighed. He hated when his former teammate jumped on him the moment he entered the chambers, "Yes Danzo-san, there is a potential threat, but that is something that will not be a problem to handle. The reason we are here today is because the shinobi council needs to be aware of a change in one of it's shinobi."

"You mean the demon brat?" spat one civilian council member.

Sarutobi glared at the man for a moment, before smirking, "Oda-san. I believe you know what action is taken when bias is shown by civilians in shinobi matters. Now since I don't see the need to notify the civilians about this anyway, any civilians in the room may exit the premises. Now."

The civilians all grumbled and stood up, glaring at both Oda and Naruto as they filed out of the room.

Danzo cleared his throat after they left, "While Oda-san may be biased and a bit dim, he seems to be correct as to what the meeting pertains to. Now, is this the threat you mentioned?"

"No, I'll get to that in a moment. Naruto, would you care to explain in your own words what happened to you?" Sarutobi asked politely.

"Of course, Hokage-sama. Recently, my team and I were sent on a C-rank escort mission to the Land of Waves. When we arrived, the mission ranking was upgraded to A, due to the hostile presence of Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, an Ice-release user. After one battle in which the outcome was Zabuza's retreat, we were able to rest at the client's residence for about a week, before we were accosted again by Zabuza while we were guarding the client on the bridge. The Uchiha and myself fought against Zabuza's apprentice, while Kakashi-sensei fought Zabuza himself. After Sasuke and myself were defeated by Haku, the Ice-release user, Sasuke was sent into a false death state by senbon needles thrown with expert precision into his neck by Haku. I witnessed what appeared to be his death, and was enraged as a result. I tapped into the chakra of the Kyuubi, but the results were unexpected. As Kurama, I attempted to force My consciousness through the gap in the seal that allowed the use of My chakra, but then both Naruto and Kurama felt pain beyond what they had ever felt before, and I came into being. The easiest way to describe my existence would be a total fusion of Naruto and Kurama's personalities and abilities."

The shinobi looked at Naruto in confusion and disbelief, then looked to the Hokage for confirmation. When the Hokage nodded, Danzo narrowed his eyes and looked at Naruto, "What are your intentions, Kyuubi? If you desire the destruction of Konoha, I guarantee you will not take it without a fight."

Naruto sighed, "Why does everyone insist on believing I am some engine of carnage? I will tell you what I told the Hokage. I was under the control of someone with the Sharingan, I was forced into attacking this village after I was removed from Mom. I have no intention of attacking this village, and actually want to help it. Naruto's dream was to become Hokage. Since I am him, that is my dream as well. Despite how much abuse I have received from this place, it is still my home. I still want to protect it."

"That's all well and good," said Danzo, "But what is our insurance that you are as unrealistically benign as you claim? You can't just expect us to accept the presence of an unsealed Bijuu in our village."

"Why not?" asked Shikaku, "As far as I see it, we now have the _willing_ cooperation of the strongest of the tailed beasts, and we didn't even have to ask nicely. I'm not saying that we should let him go unsupervised, but maybe we should just accept his help. I'd rather have him on our side than as one of Konoha's enemies should we drive him out."

Danzo was looking at Naruto thoughtfully, and after a couple of moments he nodded his agreement.

Hiashi Hyuuga had been staring at Naruto with his Byakugan activated for some time, and finally decided to speak, "Naruto-san. Would you be offended if I asked for a meeting in which the Hyuga clan would be able to examine your chakra more closely?"

Naruto looked at the Hyuga head with interest, "For what purpose? Unless you plan on an attempt to steal my chakra somehow I don't see how it would be useful for you."

"The Hyuga clan archives all previously unknown chakra types for safekeeping, so that we can learn about what makes them so special. This list is mostly limited to those within the borders of Konoha, as taking a sample requires the cooperation of the donor. We have a sample of the original Kyuubi's chakra, but I would like to compare yours with the original. There is a great deal we can learn from you, with your cooperation." Hiashi explained.

Naruto thought about it for a moment. While they could pose a threat to him if they learned the secrets of his chakra, he also needed Konoha on his side. Letting them examine his chakra would give him an amount of credit with them. Plus, he was also curious about the state of his chakra.

"I agree. Is there any particular date you have in mind?" Naruto asked.

"Whenever you can, although I am personally curious and would prefer sooner rather than later." Hiashi said. Naruto nodded.

Danzo spoke up, "You have made some convincing points, and I feel we can agree with an alliance with you, but surveillance is also necessary. Hokage-sama, what is the likelihood of Jiraiya-dono being recalled to the village?"

"I am already going to call him back. The presence of two tailed beasts in the village virtually requires him to be here." Hiruzen answered.

The council's collective eyes widened, and Shikaku spoke up, "What do you mean _two_ tailed beasts? Is there another Jinchuuriki here?"

The Hokage nodded, "Yes. The container of the Ichibi has been sent here from Suna, and he is extremely unstable at that. He was the main source of killing intent pertaining to the incident earlier today. He became extremely aggressive, and was about to attack Naruto on sight."

"This is an act of war, Sarutobi. Suna can not be allowed to walk away unscathed from an almost direct attack on our village." said Danzo.

"While I agree that Suna's actions are suspicious, you will remember who is the Hokage here, Danzo." Hiruzen said sternly.

Danzo stiffened, then scowled, "Understood, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi looked back at the rest of the council, "The first order of business when faced with a threat like this is to learn about the Ichibi and it's capabilities in the event it escapes from it's seal." he looked to Naruto, "Would you be able to offer any insight? Seeing as you are Kurama as well?"

Naruto scowled. They were asking him to give away his brother's weaknesses. Shukaku may still hate him, and he couldn't claim he actually liked the little shit, but he was still family. On the other hand, Shukaku wouldn't hesitate to claim the lives of everyone in the village if he was able. That was something he could not afford. He would not allow his precious people to be hurt or killed, even if it meant fighting one of them.

"I am not happy about it, but I will not allow any harm to befall my friends." Naruto said, "Shukaku is... unstable. Out of all of my siblings, he is the most insane. It is his fault, but it is not his choice. After that monstrosity known as Madara enslaved me with his Sharingan, he used me to fight Hashirama. Madara and I were eventually defeated, but after that happened, Mito-chan sealed me into herself with her clan's Fuinjutsu. After that, Hashirama went on to use his Mokuton and his wife's techniques to capture the rest of my siblings. Mito-chan convinced me to not hate her husband, but I will never forgive him. Anyway, Shukaku was always envious of the power I had, and he always tried to make himself stronger. He was prideful, but he was not insane. Well, after he saw what Fuinjutsu was capable of during the Clan Wars, he got the idea in his head that he could use it to finally beat me. Over time, he attempted to develop a seal that would let him use Sage Mode, because he didn't have the patience to utilize it. Fuinjutsu requires far more control than he has, however. The seal was imperfect, and when he tried to use it he almost lost himself to it. He swore to never use the seal after that. But then Hashirama started sealing us away, and he was one of the last ones left. Eventually Hashirama found him, and Shukaku was unable to beat him. My brother used the seal in a panic, desperate not to get sealed himself. He went insane, and the seal took over completely. Shukaku was permanently stuck in a bastardized Sage Mode, and he wasn't able to leave it. He was still beaten by Hashirama, and he was given to Suna when we were divided up and passed around like food. For the record, I blame Hashirama for my brother's madness." he spat bitterly.

"So essentially, Shukaku is stuck in Sage Mode? How powerful do you think he is, in relation to your siblings?" Danzo asked.

"Shukaku may only have one tail, but in his case that means little. I would guess his power to be closer to Isobu in chakra, and Son-Goku in physical strength." said Naruto.

"May I ask who they are? I am assuming they are Bijuu like yourself, but how many tails do they have?" Shikaku asked.

"Isobu of Three Tails, and Son-Goku of Four tails." Naruto answered, "I ask that you do not try to fight him, unless one of you are experts in chakra seals, like _Jiraiya_. I will need to fight him myself, and may need to use three tails to fight him if he is fully released. I will not go past three, as the fourth tail will probably cause irreparable damage to this body as it is, and I will have to abandon it."

"Is he just a berserker? Or does he have any particular techniques?" Hiruzen asked.

"His favorite attack would have to be Futon: Drilling Air Bullet. His strongest attack is Bijuudama, which is the specialty of the Bijuu. His sand may be easily disrupted by Raiton techniques, but his Futon attacks can render them useless. With some concentration I can utilize all of the elements, but my main affinities are Katon and Futon." Naruto explained.

"Well I think you have given us enough to work with." Sarutobi said, "Alright, this meeting is dismissed. I have to write out a couple letters."

Everybody left the room, and Naruto made his way to his apartment. He hadn't been there in over a month.

* * *

 **Alright, this story is unfolding nicely. I don't know which fanfiction I took the 'Shukaku Sage Mode' idea from, if somebody could tell me that would be great so I can give credit.**

 **Let me know what you think, I noticed that the chapters are getting longer each time. Maybe that will continue.**

 **(UPDATE: Specter-117 told me where i got the idea from, credit goes to Third Fang for Take Two Round Two, which is where I got the Shukaku idea.**


	4. Chapter 4

So, for the guest reviewer who reviews every chapter pissing and moaning about every deviation I make from canon, I have one thing to say...

I'm writing it for the people who offer criticism, both positive and negative, about the story and my writing skills, and for those people who genuinely enjoy it. I have actually turned review moderation on, just for you. Doesn't that make you feel special? Rest assured, I will keep every review with an actual point to it, just not the ones that say "That didn't happen! You suck!" or things of the like.

* * *

It was just now night time, and Naruto was reading one of the books provided by the Hokage when there was a sharp knock on his door.

He sighed and put the book down before going to the door and opening it to reveal Sasuke.

"Hey, got a minute?" Sasuke asked... rather nicely.

"Ummm, sure?" Naruto asked and opened the door for him.

Sasuke walked in to see the apartment virtually spotless, save for only the most irremovable stains and the one busted floorboard.

"Looks like you finally decided to clean up, eh dobe?" Sasuke said.

"Don't call me dobe. But yes, I decided it was an ample distraction from my boredom." Naruto answered.

"... I came for answers." said Sasuke.

"To what questions?" Naruto asked while sitting back down on his couch.

"I heard that you... _might_ be the real Kyuubi. Now at least. I know that Naruto was not the Kyuubi. I know for a fact. But if you are now, and the Kyuubi wasn't spotted anywhere near that mission area, that means it came with us. I haven't stopped thinking about it since then. I found out your birthday, which happens to coincide with the very day the Kyuubi attacked. I also know that the Yondaime was a master of Fuinjutsu. So I guess my question would be; did the Fourth somehow seal away your power and mind? And if so, why did he leave you alive?" Sasuke asked after sitting down across from Naruto.

"I am the real Kyuubi, but not the same Kyuubi in a sense. I am Naruto as much as Kurama. I guess you could say My mind and power was sealed, but not in the way you think. Naruto was just a normal infant. I was not related to the Kyuubi in any way. The only special thing about me was my birthday. It coincided with the weakening of My seal. I will not tell you what happened that night, as I don't remember most of it, but events forced the Fourth to seal Me into his only son... Kurama into Naruto. I remember impaling my parents on My claw, and then I was sealed in myself." Naruto's expression turned downcast, "I know your past, and maybe you can relate, at least a little bit. Imagine finding out who your parents were, and even seeing how much they love you, after never having any. Your one chance at having a family, and they were murdered. And then imagine... that you were the one to do it."

Naruto took a shuddering breath, and Sasuke didn't know what to say. Naruto wiped the tears that had began to form from his eyes and continued, "The whole thing could have been avoided. That entire clusterfuck is the sole property of one person. I am going to destroy him, and his memory. I want his death, even more than I want to be Hokage."

"You won't do it alone."

Naruto looked at Sasuke. He saw the sympathetic, but not pitying look on his face.

"I can't understand what happened, or how you feel about it. I was put in a position that, even though my family was murdered, at least I had a clear motivation on who to hate. I don't know how I would function if I had been the one to kill them." Sasuke said, "But I'll make you a deal."

"A deal?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah." Sasuke said, "You help me kill Itachi, and I'll help you kill the man you talked about. An even trade, right?"

Naruto stared at him for a long while, before smirking, "Tch, pure madness. A willing alliance between the Nine Tails, and an Uchiha? Impossible. I accept."

Sasuke realized something, "Wait, did you just say the Yondaime was your father?"

"He was my Dad, not my father." Naruto clarified.

"What's the difference?" Sasuke asked.

"They are two separate people." he said.

Sasuke sighed, "This is a lot of information. You'll have to tell me about that later."

"Very well. I am going to go to sleep. I miss my bed." Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded and went to the door, saying his goodbyes as he left. Naruto went into his bedroom and laid down, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

The next day, Sasuke and Sakura were waiting on the bridge for the rest of their team to gather. Normally Naruto would be there as well, but he wasn't today.

Kakashi appeared on the bridge gate, and was met with Sakura shouting, "You're late!" before immediately calming down and asking, "Sensei, where's Naruto?"

"Naruto is in a meeting with the Hyuga clan head. But that's alright, I'll just give him his later." Kakashi answered.

Sakura cocked her head, "Meeting with the Hyuga clan? What for?"

Suddenly an immense, if distant, chakra pressure made itself known for a moment before disappearing.

"It has to do with that." said Kakashi, "But that's not why we're here. Take these." He handed out a couple of forms to Sakura and Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw what they were, "Chunin Exams?"

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well, if you don't think you can handle it, that's fine."

Sasuke glared at him, "Oh please, I was remarking on the fact that we've been Genin for only a couple of months."

"And you would still be Genin for at least another year, but the other Jonin seem to think their teams are ready, and I don't want to look bad." Kakashi spoke carelessly.

The Genin just stared at him, before Sasuke smirked, "Whatever, this'll be interesting either way."

* * *

Hiashi's eyebrow twitched as he took the chakra sealing orb from Naruto, "Was that much power really necessary?"

"No, but i wanted to make sure you got enough." said Naruto calmly.

 _That's an understatement,_ Hiashi thought. The orb was glowing bright purple, and looked to be barely containing the chakra Naruto had placed within. He would have to relocate it to a stronger orb before it broke. Hiashi didn't want the archive exploding because he didn't take proper precautions.

He looked back at Naruto, "I will send a messenger to find you after we've analyzed it and compared it with the original Kyuubi's chakra."

"Very well, I need to meet with my team." Naruto said before leaving.

He remembered the way out of the compound, and walked through the maze of hallways before turning a corner and running into someone.

Or rather, they ran into him and fell when he didn't budge.

"Gomen nasai." the person groaned, and Naruto realized who it was.

"I apologize, Hinata. I should have been watching where I was going." Naruto said.

Hinata froze and looked at him. It was deeper, but that was definitely Naruto's voice. He looked like Naruto as well, but his hair and eyes were different.

She activated her Byakugan and was almost blinded by the amount of chakra leaking off of him, "Naruto-kun?"

"Yes?" Naruto asked.

She stood up, "Are you really Naruto-kun?"

"Yes, I have gone through some changes, but I'm still me." Naruto said calmly. This was becoming a common response, and it was annoying.

Hinata blushed as she looked him over, somehow she knew that he was telling the truth, but still, "What are you doing here?"

"Hiashi asked me to archive my chakra. I was here to do that." Naruto said.

Hinata's eyes widened, the clan only archived chakra that was particularly special or impressive. Was it that red chakra she saw in him sometimes when she was... observing him? She blushed at that thought, then looked at him again. She noticed he had become more muscular, and his face seemed to have lost it's roundness. Her face turned scarlet as her mind wandered. She stopped her train of thought when she saw him looking at her strangely.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked. Did he have a blush? No way!

"I apologize, but I must be going now." Naruto said quickly before walking briskly around her and past the exit before he realized and turned around to leave.

Hinata just stood there dumbfounded. She knew how he was acting just now, and although she wasn't sure why he did that then, she still ran into her room with a happy smile.

* * *

Naruto was several blocks away, hopping across rooftops and breaking some of them with the force he exerted. After a while he stopped and sat against a water tower.

"What the hell just happened?" Naruto asked himself, "Well I know what happened, but why? Her smell..." he trailed off as he remembered it. Kurama's memories told him the smell was pheromones.

"And her emotions, what were those?" he wondered, "They seemed happy, but it was different. Overwhelming."

He searched Kurama's memories for an answer, and he found it. His jaw actually dropped when he realized what all that meant.

"Impossible. Nobody cares about me. She's the Hyuga heir, she of all people should hate me more than others. I killed so many of her clan. Why?" he asked.

He was going to keep pondering it when there was a pop of smoke in front of him. It revealed Kakashi, who was looking at Naruto with that annoying eye-smile of his.

"What do you want Scarecrow? I am thinking." Naruto stated, irritated.

Kakashi chuckled, "I can see that. Girl troubles?"

Naruto's eyes shot at him. His gaze tried to bore a hole in Kakashi's smug face, but only succeeded in making him smile wider.

Naruto sighed, "That's a cheap trick, using my distraction to listen in. "

"Well, I actually saw your warpath of pubescent fear and decided to follow you in case you needed help. Imagine my amusement when I find you talking to yourself about a girl. So who is it?" Kakashi prodded.

"No."

"No? That's an odd name." Kakashi grinned.

"No, I am not telling the likes of you. You will become an even bigger annoyance should I divulge anything else." Naruto said while still glaring.

Kakashi laughed again before calming down, "Well I was looking for you anyway. Here."

Naruto took the form from him, "The Chunin Exams huh? How convenient."

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.

"It's convenient that an opportunity to increase the strength of my opponents presents itself as soon as I fused. I would get rather irritable if I had to remain a Genin for any length of time." Naruto explained.

Kakashi nodded. He knew how much it sucked to be stronger than most everyone else, unlike what most would think.

"Well, you've got the day off, not that we've actually done anything since we got back." Kakashi said.

"You maybe. I've been in a pissing contest with my little brother, gone to a council meeting, spilled my guts to someone unexpected, gave my chakra to the Hyuga, then had another unexpected revelation. Kami, it's only been two days!" Naruto whined.

"... You done yet?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, but I'm still annoyed"

"Well don't frown too much, I'm sure Hinata would prefer you without the wrinkles." said Kakashi before he replaced himself with a log that exploded into splinters.

Naruto stood there panting before taking a deep breath, "Whew, need to calm down."

Naruto looked at the pulverized log, "Shouldn't have said anything about the Hyuga."

* * *

 **Alright, I know this chapter was short, but I watched The Last just now and then the chapter wrote itself. I'm already working on the next chapter.**

 **That movie was awesome, though. I really enjoyed it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, I seem to have failed on something. I was seriously under the impression that Kurama's Yin (Spirit) half had been sealed in Naruto. I assumed that the Yang (body) half got sealed in Minato. So I had actually based much of my story on this idea, so that'll be another divergence I guess.**

* * *

Naruto stood with his teammates outside of the Academy. The first test was set to take place inside, and they prepared to go in when Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, as was his habit.

"So you're all here. Good. I would've forbidden you from entering if even one of you hadn't shown." Kakashi said.

Sakura's eyes widened, "But you told us that we each had the choice."

Kakashi nodded, "If any one of you didn't show up, and thus didn't feel ready, then you wouldn't have been able to enter. This exam is a team problem."

Naruto simply nodded before walking past Kakashi, with Sasuke following soon after.

Kakashi looked at them with a sweatdrop as they ignored him, before turning to Sakura hopefully.

Sakura sighed, "Yeah yeah, it was very clever."

Then she too walked past a slumped Kakashi and into the building.

After walking up one set of stairs, they saw what appeared to be the room they were supposed to be taking the first test in. 301. A quick scan of the other rooms revealed that they were still on the second floor. The test had started already.

And sadly enough, there were quite a few Genin who hadn't noticed that fact. Naruto looked on to see a boy in green coveralls who was being beaten by... nevermind, he was just doing a good job of pretending to be weak.

There was a Hyuuga though, and his Byakugan was staring straight at him.

"Yes?" Naruto asked the boy.

"My name is Neji Hyuuga. I saw your... interesting chakra in my clan's compound yesterday, and nobody would tell me what it was. Mind telling me what you were doing there?" Neji asked sharply.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "If you don't know then the answer is higher than your pay grade."

Neji glared at him, "I didn't ask that."

"You may as well have."

Neji was about to challenge him, but his teammate beat him to it.

"Hello, my name is Rock Lee! Your Flames of Youth must shine brightly to stand up to my teammate! I challenge you to a duel in which we can test our Flames of Youth against each other!" the now named Rock Lee practically screamed.

Naruto blinked. _Flames of Youth? What are those? More importantly, did I hear the word "challenge"?_

"Interesting, my name is Naruto. When and where would you like to fight?" Naruto asked cordially.

Lee's eyes widened, nobody actually accepted his challenges! He smiled brightly.

"In the lower level dojo. LET'S GO!" he shouted as he raced back down the stairs.

"Hey, Naruto. We're going to be late." Sasuke said.

Naruto said nothing, and just walked down the stairs.

He got to the dojo, and Lee was already waiting there.

Naruto examined his opponent closer, and noticed something interesting, "Rock lee, why do I not sense any chakra coming from you. I'm not a sensor, but I can at least tell when something has chakra. Are you sealed?"

"No, Naruto-san. I was born with chakra coils barely able to produce enough chakra to live. As a result, I can not use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." Lee stated.

Naruto's eyes widened, then he smirked, "Very interesting. To become a shinobi worthy of taking the Chunin Exams, you must be extraordinary at Taijutsu."

Lee smirked, "In terms of Taijutsu, I am the strongest Genin in Konoha."

Naruto cracked his knuckles, "Good. Out of respect for your position I shall restrict myself to Taijutsu as well."

Lee frowned, "Please do not. I do not want to be pitied, I can beat you with your chakra."

"Nobody can beat me should I choose to use my chakra, save perhaps Hokage-sama." Naruto said, "My Taijutsu skills are far lacking in comparison to my chakra abilities, I would like this spar to show me my weaknesses and strengths so that I may improve."

Lee lost his frown when he heard that, and took up a stance with a persistent grin on his face.

Naruto crouched low to the ground, placing his arms on the ground in front of him, and he frowned.

Several seconds later, he grunted in exertion and there was a cacophony of cracks and pops as his limbs formed into a slightly more inhuman shape.

Lee looked on confused, and then he saw that Naruto's legs took on a more... canine shape, and his arms were longer. He knew that he shouldn't underestimate him now, there was clearly something different about him.

Naruto chuckled, a deep and ominous sound, "It is more difficult than I thought it would be, to force the change with so little chakra."

"..."

"Well now, come on!" Naruto shouted.

Lee obliged, and shot forward with a kick. Naruto blocked it, but was sent into the wall for his efforts.

"And I go and underestimate you, that's depressing." Naruto said before he lunged at Lee with an outstretched hand. Lee dodged and went to counter, but his wrist was grabbed and he was pulled into a kick that drove the wind from his lungs.

He recovered in time to block another punch, and hit Naruto in the gut to retaliate.

Naruto made to attack again, but Lee vanished and appeared behind him, kicking him up next to the ceiling. Naruto twisted around before Lee could unfasten his bandages, and kicked off the ceiling. He slammed into Lee's gut, and they smashed into the ground. Several boards broke under the force, and Naruto used Lee's stomach as a springboard to backflip off of.

Lee coughed, but hopped up quickly.

They were about to continue, but they were stopped by a loud voice.

"Lee!" a man who looked like Rock Lee evolved was standing on the balcony, "What have I told you about the Lotus?!"

"Gai-sensei! I know you said to only use it in protection of something, but I'm sure Naruto-san could take it." Lee stated firmly.

Gai flew from the balcony and landed a vicious haymaker on his student's face, sending him to the ground.

"YOU FOOL! Whether he can take it does not matter, the fact is you broke the self-imposed rule I gave you!"

Naruto was really confused, _A self-imposed rule... that was given..._

He shook his head, "Gai-san, I am perfectly capable of taking anything Lee-san can dish out."

Gai looked at Naruto, "Who are you?"

Naruto sweatdropped, "I thought Hokage-sama gave a notification to his Jonin?"

Gai's eyes widened, "Oh! So you must be the one Lord Hokage mentioned! Well, I would like to speak more, but you should go. The first exam starts in ten minutes."

Naruto nodded, and he closed his eyes. The relocated bones began to reset, and after half a minute Naruto looked normal again.

He turned around and saw Neji, Sasuke, and a girl who he assumed was Lee's teammate watching the scene with wide eyes.

Sasuke shook out of it, being he wasn't exactly surprised, "Naruto, we need to get back."

"Where's Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"She said she'd be waiting in the test room, because she wasn't interested in seeing you get beat up." Sasuke said.

Naruto shrugged, "Whatever."

Neji was looking on warily as Naruto and Sasuke passed him, "Come on Tenten, Lee, we must not be late for the exam."

Naruto and Sasuke made their way up the stairs and into the large lecture room where the exam would take place. Once inside they were met with the faces of many more shinobi than either of them expected, and they were glaring at them.

Sasuke glared back, but Naruto just ignored them and scanned the room. It was very difficult to remain calm with all this malice floating around, but Kurama was an expert in terms of anger.

"Naruto! Decide to give up before you got hurt?" Sakura yelled from her spot a distance away. Naruto simply glanced over her as he continued scanning the room. Sakura bristled and made to hit him but Sasuke stopped her, giving her an angry and mildly fearful look.

Naruto's eyes finally landed on who he had been looking for.

Gaara stood at the back of the room, staring at Naruto with an emotionless expression.

 _Interesting, so Gaara knows about my emotion sensing, and suppressed his emotions to counter it._ Naruto thought, as he should have been able to sense Gaara from outside the building. That certainly had Shukaku's influence written on it.

"Hey Naruto, what the hell happened to you?" Inuzuka Kiba asked from where his team, or rather class, was standing. Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Shino, and Hinata were all standing there as well. Naruto looked at Hinata for a moment before answering Kiba's question, "There were events on our last mission that resulted in several changes."

Pretty much everyone looked at him with interest, "Naruto hardly ever spoke calmly, much less about an event like he just described. Shikamaru in particular was staring at Naruto intently, trying to figure him out. Naruto noticed, and made a mental note to get Shikamaru on his side before anyone else. His intelligence could prove invaluable.

"You guys should chill, you're attracting attention." said an older teenager with silver hair. Naruto immediately stared at him with suspicion, he didn't feel right at all.

"My name is Kabuto, I'm a Konoha Genin like yourselves." Kabuto said.

"Don't speak to my friends, psychopath. I can sense your intent." Naruto said while getting between Kabuto and his former classmates. Everyone looked at him in confusion, with the exception of Kabuto, who looked hesitant. Eventually he just backed off.

Everyone waited several minutes before a powerful voice sounded from the front of the room, "Alright brats, my name is Ibiki Morino. Settle down, we're going to assign you seats, then the tests can start."

After the seats were assigned, Naruto found himself sitting next to Hinata, to his dismay. He still was confused as to what was going on, and he wanted to have no interferences when he came to a conclusion. The subject of the issue counted as a very large interference.

Hinata looked at him, smiled and said, "Ano, let's do our best, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded stiffly, staring at his desktop.

"The first portion is a written test, in which you will be given ten questions that you will answer accordingly. There is a three strike system in place for those caught cheating. On the last strike, you and your team will be disqualified. You will be given a paper with the first nine questions, and a 45 minute period to complete them. After 45 minutes is up, we will take your tests and you will be given the tenth question, with special parameters following it." Ibiki explained.

Naruto was grinning in his seat, they had given him an absolutely awesome loophole!

The Chunin proctors handed out the tests, and Naruto's grin dropped a bit. These questions were hard! And completely irrelevant. Who in the hell even took calculus?

He looked around the room quickly and saw several older Genin doing the questions with ease, as if they already knew the answers.

Naruto's eyes widened as his grin returned, these weren't people who he recognized, and they were all from Konoha. They were Chunin proctors.

He spotted one proctor filling out a test to his left out of the corner of his eye, and he decided to wait for him to finish it.

Ten minutes had passed and the Chunin put his pencil down, signifying his completion of the test.

Naruto grinned and got out of his chair, taking his test and pencil with him. He went over to the Chunin and grabbed his test, writing down the answers as he read them.

"What are you doing, Genin?" Ibiki asked sternly.

"Cheating." Naruto replied calmly.

"Are you trying to get your team disqualified?" he asked bewildered.

"No. As far as I'm concerned, I have been caught cheating once." said Naruto as he filled out the last question in the packet. "Here is your test, Chunin-san." he said as he handed the original paper back.

Ibiki sighed, "Alright, I'll let you get away with it since you came up with it. If anyone else tries that... method... they'll be disqualified. You brats weren't smart enough to come up with it on your own so I'm adding this as another rule."

Several people groaned in disappointment. Naruto went back and sat down, ignoring the envious looks of the other room's occupants.

Hinata was trying to hold in a laugh when he returned, "That was very clever, Naruto-kun."

"Thanks." Naruto said quietly.

The remaining time had passed, and about a third of the testers had been kicked out.

"Alright, place your test on the desktop upside down, and I'll give out the tenth question." Ibiki said.

Everyone did so, and waited for Ibiki to give the rules for the last question.

"First I need to know if you'll take the tenth question. If you choose not to take it, you may leave now, and return to take the exam again in six months."

"Why the hell wouldn't we take it then?" Kiba asked from his spot.

"Because if you choose to take the test and fail, then you will be barred from the Chunin promotion for the rest of your career." Ibiki said with a smirk.

"What?!" Temari shouted, "But there have been people who took it before, like that loser!" she said as she pointed to Kabuto.

"Unfortunately for you, I am the proctor this year. I have every Kage's approval on my test, even for the tenth question." Ibiki stated.

The candidates began dropping out like flies on borax. Naruto noticed Hinata struggling with the decision, and whispered to her, "If you take the question, you will not fail. I know it."

Hinata looked at him hopefully, and calmed when she saw the reassurance on his face.

The teams had stopped quitting, leaving eighteen teams including the Konoha teams, the Suna team, two Ame teams, a team from Oto, and a team from Kusa.

Ibiki laughed, "Congratulations, you all pass."

The room was dead silent as everyone tried to process what had happened. Then they all started yelling.

"The tenth question was, 'Will you take it?'. Obviously I changed the wording, but the effect was the same." Ibiki took off his bandanna, revealing multiple scars from cuts, burns, and even a screw.

"People who can't take risks cannot succeed as shinobi. Certainly not as Chunin, and if they got to Jonin like that then they bribed someone." Ibiki said grimly, "If you cannot risk torture and death for the sake of your comrades and village, then what did you do it for? Why would you throw yourself into the career with the single highest mortality rate on this planet if you didn't do it for those reasons? The people who just left do not deserve the power they wield, not as they are now."

He looked at the remaining Genin with more respect, "I am proud to have been your proctor, and I hope you succeed in the remaining tests." he looked at Naruto, "Even if some of you are little shits."

Naruto smirked, "Did nobody ever teach you to respect your elders?"

Ibiki's eyes widened as he realized Who Naruto was. He was about to respond when the window smashed open.

A ball of cloth flew through and pinned open on the walls, showing a banner that read "The Eternally desired and Single: Anko Mitarashi!"

The aforementioned woman jumped through the window a tad behind the banner, thus the intended effect was ruined. That didn't stop the male population of the room from staring, there were even some girls enjoying the view.

"Alright maggots, Listen up! The Second Exam starts now! Everyone follow me!" she shouted loudly, before realizing that everybody was just staring at her.

Ibiki walked from behind the banner and sighed, "Anko, you're early again."

"Huh, you actually dented their numbers a bit, I'm surprised." Anko said, "But I'll still cut their numbers in half." she grinned in a most sinister manner.

"Alright Genin, I guess it's time for the Second Exam. Follow Anko to Training Ground 44, the test will begin there."

* * *

 **Yeah, i know that's a weird place to end the chapter, but I did it anyway, as I want to do the second test in one chapter, and the preliminary in the one after that.**

 **I am amazed with all of the support this story is receiving! There has only been one person thus far who has reviewed it negatively, and they were a guest.**

 **(UPDATE)- I didn't math good with the previous iteration of this chapter. Now there are twice as many teams that passed, because I had left pretty much only the interesting teams to pass the first test. This was a fail because then only five of those teams would have been able to enter the preliminaries at most, and obviously I wanted all the interesting teams to enter the prelims.**


	6. Chapter 6

The Chunin hopefuls stared apprehensively at the gates of the forest. There were all kinds of signs and chains around the fenced gates, and their message was clear: Enter at your own risk.

For Naruto though, it was merely a place with interesting wildlife. Past the fence he saw the tail of a centipede that was at least twenty feet long. If that was the insect life, it would be safe to say that any encounter with the other fauna of the forest would be memorable at the least.

Anko stood on a raised platform overlooking the Genin as she told them the rules, "Okay brats, this is Training Ground #44, primarily known as The Forest of Death. There is a tower in the center of the forest which you will need to get to after obtaining your cargo." she reached into the pocket of her trench coat and pulled out a pair of scrolls, "These are your cargo. Your teams will be given one of these scrolls, labeled either Heaven or Earth, and you must obtain their counterpart by any means necessary, before getting to the tower within a five day time limit. Opening the scrolls before entering the tower will disqualify you, and give you a surprise as well. You will need to sign a waiver that states that if you die, we aren't liable." she said with a smirk before noticing something.

Naruto had stopped paying attention, as he was looking into the forest trying to see anything else one could define as interesting. Suddenly, his senses warned him of danger, and he saw a kunai racing towards him. Instead of dodging like a normal person, he jerked his head towards it and caught it in his teeth. He turned around to show Anko, who had gotten behind him, her kunai in his mouth. He stared at her while clenching his jaws, and the knife cracked before shattering into sharp pieces.

Anko looked at him with a bit more hesitation before smirking, "Heh, seems like we got some crazy ones this year. But don't ignore me when I'm speaking, brat."

Naruto just stared at her with amusement as she walked past him and back to the platform.

"Alright, go up and sign the waivers , then grab your scroll from the same booth." she said while gesturing to said booth.

"Naruto, can you go get our scroll?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head and pointed at Sasuke, then the booth.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow but went and got the scroll anyway.

He returned and handed the scroll to Naruto, who still hadn't said a word. They moved to their assigned gate, and waited for the gate to open.

After about ten minutes, Anko spoke again, this time over the loudspeakers in the area.

"Alright, get your scrolls, get to the tower, and don't open them before you get there. Also, don't die."

The gates dropped down and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura ran in like the rest of the Genin.

After a moment of running though, Naruto held up his hand to stop in a clearing.

"What's up, Naruto?" Sakura asked, but his response wasn't what she was expecting.

Naruto held finger up while he reached into his mouth and pulled out shard after shard of bloodied metal. When the last one was out, he looked at his team.

"That's much better." he said before he spit out some more blood.

"If that injured you, why the hell did you do it!?" Sasuke asked loudly.

"It looked cool." Naruto shrugged, "How many people have you even heard of doing that?"

Sasuke pinched his nose, "None, because intelligent life usually keeps sharp objects away from their mouth."

Sakura was still staring at him, "How did you even do that?"

"I work out." he replied cheekily.

"...With your mouth..." Sakura deadpanned.

"Especially with my mouth" Naruto grinned wider, "And I use my tongue to the best of my ability."

Sakura was horrified, "Ugh! Just shut up Naruto!"

Sasuke was looking at him strangely, "The hell is wrong with you?"

After a moment Naruto responded, "There may or may not be a large quantity of different species who all have their mating seasons around this time and area. And it would be ridiculous to suggest that I might be affected by their... emotions."

"My god dobe." Sasuke rubbed his temples, "Let's just stay focused on the task at hand."

Naruto nodded, but never lost his smirk. He looked around, then closed his eyes, extending his senses for something.

"The other teams are all spreading out. There are a lot fewer teams than I would have anticipated, but the numbers even out perfectly. This makes sure that half succeed, and the other half does not." Naruto trailed off as he noticed something, "That's... strange."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"There was a burst of intent and chakra just now, but what's interesting was that not only were both closer to mine in terms of potency, neither the chakra nor the intent belonged to Shukaku. There is someone here who is far beyond the level of Genin." Naruto said.

"Whatever, you're probably making that crap up." Sakura said.

"Plus the fact that I can clearly sense Gaara's bloodlust from here, and it is in the opposite direction." Naruto's eyes widened as he tensed.

"Come on, we're leaving." Naruto commanded before he turned in the direction of Gaara's team.

Sakura was going to argue, but after Sasuke followed wordlessly she did too.

Naruto jumped into the forest and began hurrying in the direction he felt the fear.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as they were running and jumping full speed across branches, "What's wrong? We should just leave that psycho to take out the other teams. Reduce the competition."

"Aside from the fact that most of the competition is from our own village, Hinata is there. And Gaara already killed those weaklings, but he isn't stopping." Naruto said.

"So? We aren't here for them. We're here for us." Sasuke argued.

"We're here to get promoted to better serve our village, of which they are a part of." Naruto stated firmly, "This is not a game. These are lives that hang on the scale, and it doesn't take more than a breeze to shift that balance and lose the weights. I am not so much a coward as to allow pain and death to take hold when I have the power to stop it. Are you?"

Sasuke's eyes hardened, "No."

"What about you, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

Sakura looked to him in surprise, "Well of course not."

"Then we're in agreement." Naruto said before he increased his speed, and the others followed.

After a few more moments of running they came into another clearing, but this one wasn't nearly as clean.

There were three corpses that seemed to have been crushed beyond recognition, and next to them stood Gaara and his siblings. But he wasn't looking at them, he was looking at the battered Team 8, who he was pummeling with whips and strands of sand.

"GAARA!" Naruto shouted as he jumped over the Suna team completely and landed in between them and the panting Konoha team.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto didn't respond, instead opting to turn and glare at Gaara, who was grinning in excitement. Sakura and Sasuke landed in the forest, and Sakura began helping Team 8, while Sasuke simply watched the scene play out.

"What do you think you're doing, you pathetic runt?" Naruto ground out.

Gaara chuckled, "During the first exam, Shukaku said you had taken an interest in this girl. I didn't believe him at first, but it looks like he was right."

"This is a new low, even for you Shukaku. What exactly made you think I wouldn't break you for attacking someone who I had 'taken an interest in' as you put it." Naruto said.

"Because you can't." Gaara said, "We're still stronger than you."

Naruto chuckled, his voice getting deeper with every breath, "'Still' implies you ever were. Has your madness twisted your mind that much? You were always the runt. The weakest of us."

Gaara's face contorted in pain, "STOP! IT HURTS! Let me kill him for you! It hurts me too much when you do it!"

His face relaxed and he smirked.

Naruto had enough. He began walking towards Gaara, channeling chakra into his right arm courtesy of his tenketsu, and his right arm began vibrating in intensity. After a moment the muscle strands beneath the skin began glowing violet, and the arm looked like it was about to crush itself.

Gaara lost his smirk when Naruto lunged forward, and raised a thick shield of sand to block the punch.

It didn't do a thing.

Naruto brought his arm forward and smashed it into the wall with so much force that the shield was blasted away.

Gaara looked at Naruto in shock and fear, but that feeling was nothing compared to the sensation of terror whenever Naruto's other hand wrapped around his throat. Naruto squeezed, and cracks appeared on his neck where his armor was breaking.

But just like that, it stopped.

Naruto threw him backwards onto his ass and glared at him, "Did you know that I was the reason you are even allowed to participate in these exams? Did you know that I persuaded the shinobi council of this village not to kill you under the premise that you were much stronger than you actually are? I told them that your chakra was comparable to Isobu, and that you were as strong as Son-Goku. You and I both know that you are not. That disgusting seal you created gave you another half a tail at most, and you know it. I made sure that in any event, I would be the only one to fight you. I made sure that, despite the Hokage and Jiraiya of the Sanin being more than enough to dominate you, they would not. Because I had a plan, you see. I created a plan that would not only allow you to be free, but to get rid of that seal as well. But now I think I should just seal you into a teapot again. What kind of basic insect goes after another's Chosen? Not even rats are that pathetic. Give me one reason why I shouldn't aid this village in sealing you permanently by powering a seal with my chakra."

Gaara was speechless and confused, but he realized Naruto wasn't talking to him.

 _'Gaara.'_ Shukaku said calmly, ' _Perform the Feign Death.'_

Gaara's eyes widened, _'But why? He's stronger than us. He'll kill us._ '

 _'I don't want to fight.'_

Gaara was completely confused now, but complied.

Temari and Kankuro started freaking out when he started performing a certain set of hand seals they knew intimately, but Naruto looked at them and raised a hand.

Gaara slumped and was still for only a moment, before he looked up at Naruto with golden eyes.

"Hello, Kurama." Shukaku said as he stood up with Gaara's body.

"Hello, Shukaku." Naruto said, "It's been quite a while."

"Yeah, but you don't care about that." Shukaku said.

"That's right. I need a reason." Naruto said.

"I don't have what you're looking for." Shukaku stated, "Even now it is taking everything to focus. I'm a lost cause. Go ahead and seal me, while I'm still alright. You won't be able to remove the seal, and you won't be able to free me. If I get out I'll either get captured again, or I'll go after one of you and get sealed then. Either way, I'd rather die, and a permanent sleep is the closest I can get to that."

Naruto smiled, "You _are_ one of us, Otouto. That sliver of remorse when you spoke of attacking your siblings was all the reason I needed."

"What do I do? I can't stay like this forever. Eventually I'll lose it again." Shukaku said.

"I am going to have to charge your seal, at least until we have a solution to your curse." Naruto said seriously.

"...Fine, just do it. I'll be waiting." Shukaku said.

Gaara's eyes turned back to their teal color, and he collapsed. His eyes closed for only a second before they shot back open and he scrambled away, staring at Naruto fearfully the whole time.

"Gaara, calm down." Naruto said, "I need to see your seal."

"Why should I let you!? You can kill me! I should kill you first!" he screamed before he raised his hands to attack with his sand.

But the sand didn't move.

Gaara tried again, and the sand once again didn't respond. His eyes grew wide and he started hyperventilating, before his teal irises rolled up into his head and he passed out solely due to fear.

Naruto sighed, and reached down to pull off Gaara's shirt so he could access the seal.

He was stopped, however, when Temari held a kunai to his neck. He ignored her, however, and leaned forward regardless of the fact that the knife was biting into his neck. Temari pulled the knife away after she realized it wouldn't do anything.

Naruto lifted Gaara's shirt and searched for the powered portion of the seal on his stomach. He found it, and placed his finger on it to channel some of his chakra into it. The seal shone brightly for a moment, before dimming to a soft purple glow.

"He'll wake up in after a while. My team will accompany yours to the tower, we can talk there." Naruto said to Temari and Kankuro.

Kankuro scoffed, "What makes you think we won't just take your scroll too? It wouldn't hurt to have an extra one."

"Besides the fact that I would destroy you? We would have no problem taking out any other team in the forest, and there was another chakra signature I felt that was even more powerful than your brother's. Unless of course you would like to face someone stronger than Gaara, with Gaara knocked out. It's really up to you." Naruto said mockingly.

Kankuro went to argue further, but he was interrupted by Temari, "We accept. Everything you just said is a valid point, and we don't have much choice."

Naruto nodded, and turned to Team 8, "You follow as well. I'm not in the mood to waste energy on weaklings. With this many people there shouldn't be a problem.

Kiba nodded, grateful for Naruto's aid and just as spooked. He was, however, not keen on helping the Suna team for obvious reasons. Shino just looked at Naruto before moving on, making a mental note to have a conversation with him later.

Hinata was looking at Naruto with an unreadable expression. She just eventually decided to go stand with her team.

Naruto noticed, "Hinata, may I speak to you?"

Her head jerked her head back to him, before looking at the ground.

"Yes." she said almost sullenly, following him off into the forest.

Kiba and Shino exchanged a look. "Do you think we should follow them?" asked Kiba.

"No." said Shino, "I doubt Naruto would take lightly to our intrusion. And we don't want to upset him, given the newfound capability he just displayed." He looked into the forest where they left, "Besides, given the conversation he just had with that Suna nin, I don't think he'll do anything to harm her."

* * *

Naruto turned around and looked at Hinata, who was still staring at the ground.

"What's wrong, Hinata." he asked.

She stayed silent at first, before Naruto walked up to her and sat down so he was looking up at her. She took a step back, but Naruto grabbed her hand and stopped her retreat.

"Hinata. Tell me." Naruto said.

She stared at him for a moment, wondering whether she should tell him or not. But she pulled up her confidence and decided it was the best time to do so, "I... I'm confused, and conflicted."

Naruto remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I h-heard what you and that person from Suna said, and..." she trailed off, gathering her confidence, "And I'm happy. I admire you. You have been my i-inspiration. I watched you work so hard, even when you were pushed down, over and over. Nobody wanted to deal with you, but you decided to make them see. And when that didn't work, you just tried harder."

She looked down again, "But you're different now. You haven't been acting like Naruto-kun, it's like you're a different person. You're stronger now, but colder too."

Naruto listened, expecting this.

"You called me your 'Chosen'. Am I kidding myself, or was the meaning to that as obvious as it seemed?" Hinata asked.

"It was. It was in the moment, but I made the decision then and there."Naruto said, "I have gone through Naruto's memories, and I saw the way I affected you. I saw you watch me in class, I saw you get 'sick'." Naruto chuckled, "It seems like I was just stupid, but that wasn't it."

"That's what I mean. How can you say Naruto like you aren't him, but then switch to I as if you are?" Hinata asked.

Naruto hesitated for a bit, before gesturing for her to sit. She complied, and he started his story.

"What I am about to tell you is an S-Ranked village secret, and can not be passed on to those who do not already know. The only exceptions to this rule are the Hokage and myself." Naruto warned.

Hinata's eyes widened, "This has to do with the Kyuubi?"

Naruto started, "How do you know about that?"

Hinata looked down and blushed, now she had to tell him. _So stupid_ she thought, "I sorta... followed you... a lot. I was able to figure it out because of all the horrible things they said to you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Then you know that I'm the Kyuubi?"

Hinata's eyes sharpened at him, then she shook her head and said strongly, "You are not the Kyuubi. You didn't kill all those people. It might be inside you, even if I can't figure out how, but that doesn't mean that you are the demon."

Naruto smiled, "That makes me happy, even if you're wrong now."

Hinata was confused, "What do you mean?"

"While Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi before, I am now." he said.

Hinata's face showed surprise, "But how is that possible?"

"I am not too sure about what happened exactly, but there was a malfunction in the seal then Kurama no Kyuubi and Naruto Uzumaki were fused into one person." Naruto explained, "I am still Naruto, but I am just as much Kurama. This is the reason for my behaviour, and why I just now noticed your feelings. Naruto never had anyone to teach him what affection like that should feel like, or what the signs to look for were, and denial also came into play. Naruto had a suspicion once or twice, but he couldn't believe it. I am getting good at categorizing the emotions I feel however, and I can tell you that Naruto was the cause of what I said to Gaara."

Hinata's head was spinning, "This is... a lot bigger than I thought it would be."

"We can speak more whenever you want, but right now we need to keep moving. I believe the only reason we have not been attacked is due to the three teams of shinobi in the area." Naruto said as he got up, offering a hand to Hinata.

Hinata nodded and took his hand with a blush as he pulled her up.

* * *

"You done fraternizing?" Kankuro asked, causing Hinata to blush and Naruto to glare.

"You know," Naruto said, "I think you are quite possibly one of the most annoying beings I have ever encountered."

Kankuro grit his teeth and was about to respond when Naruto pointed at the corpses and asked Temari, "What scroll did that team have?"

"Earth." she replied.

"And you?"

"Heaven."

"I see," Naruto said, "Hinata, what scroll does your team have?"

"Ano, we have Earth." said Hinata.

Naruto nodded, "Alright, Suna gets this scroll, we need to find two more Heaven scrolls then."

Sasuke grunted, "Don't be so bossy, nobody put you in charge."

Naruto ignored him, instead opting to focus on the emotions in the forest.

"There is an enemy team that way," he said, "They are not from Konoha. I have learned all of our Genin's patterns."

With that, the veritable army of shinobi followed Naruto in the direction he had indicated.

On the way he couldn't help but think about what he had said with Hinata. It was a very sudden decision on his part, declaring her his Chosen. It was irrational, and even stupid. It felt like he just walked in and said, "Hey, you're with me". Yet he couldn't figure out why he didn't feel it mattered. Perhaps it was due to how easy she seemed to accept it, though he figured she would react differently once she was given time to relax and think about it. Or maybe she didn't realize the full implications of that word. What was he thinking, of course she didn't! She wasn't a Tailed Beast or Chakra Animal, how could she possibly understand the ramifications of the statement? She was thinking in terms of human emotions.

He shook himself out of his thoughts when he realized that they had come to the location he had sensed the enemy Genin preparing a trap. There was nothing here though, and he got an ominous feeling as he looked around. The area was blanketed in the smell of fresh blood.

"Bringer of Darkness!" a voice called, and the entire group lost their sight. Naruto spun around when he heard several whistles before the sound of dropping bodies followed his comrade's cries of shock.

Naruto sent chakra rushing through him, and the shroud of black over his vision rent apart to reveal that most of his teammates were on the ground with senbon in their necks. The only ones who managed to dodge were Kankuro, Hinata and Sasuke.

He felt four malicious presences surrounding them, and he looked around to see the team from Oto plus one tall Kusa nin standing around him, with the three Oto holding senbon. Naruto growled deeply before readying himself.

The Oto shinobi paled and made to retreat, but one look to the Kusa nin made them rush in fearfully.

Dosu, the Genin covered in bandages, went after Kankuro. He figured the Suna nin was the strongest because he was the largest.

The girl, Kin, went after Hinata. She saw how delicate the Hyuuga heiress appeared to be and would take great pleasure humiliating and killing her.

Zaku, essentially Dark Kiba, went after Sasuke, as he wanted to prove his strength to his master and thought the best way to do that would be to beat the one who held his master's interest.

Naruto went to jump in, but was blocked by the Kusa shinobi. Naruto gave him a once over before realizing that this person was the source of the strange malice-ridden chakra he felt earlier.

He sighed, _This isn't going to be simple._

* * *

Kankuro was dodging Dosu's attacks with an inhuman flexibility and methodic grace that was unexpected. The bastard seemed to be ignoring his gauntlet as well somehow.

Dosu glared at him, "You're doing well at this range. I'll just have to increase the power!" he shouted before pulling out a kunai and slamming the pommel into the gauntlet.

Kankuro raised his brow when the air around the gauntlet seemed to shimmer, but rushed Dosu anyways.

Dosu smirked past his bandages, and swung his arm at Kankuro.

A god-awful sound like an earthquake of rending copper tore through Kankuro's skull and sent him collapsing. He began contorting into different shapes impossible for a human skeleton to form, before 'Kankuro' stopped moving and his skin seemed to crumble off. The wrapped package previously on his back had started moving around before two hands ripped the bandages open and the real Kankuro rolled out of it.

Dosu got kinda freaked by his opponent when he collapsed, but then he saw Kankuro tear his way out of the package he was in and he realized he must have been fighting some sort of clone. Kankuro stood up and shivered, but didn't react otherwise, alarming Dosu.

"Ugh! That was horrible, what the hell hind of weapon is that?" Kankuro shouted.

Dosu narrowed his one visible eye, "Why are you not affected?"

"Oh I was." Kankuro said, "Were you doing that the whole time? Holy crap! now I'm really grateful for the seals on the wrapping, though I've got to replace it again."

"You have seals for suppressing sound?" Dosu asked. Was this Genin somehow informed about his abilities?

"Chakra absorbers mostly, but there's one or two sound dampeners as well, I cant have major distractions when I'm controlling Karasu." Kankuro said.

"Karasu?" Dosu repeated.

The puppeteer held out his hands and chakra threads shot from his fingertips and attached to the puppet that had been masquerading as him earlier, "Lets see how you do against a Bunraku wielder!

* * *

Sasuke was getting really annoyed. He was just dodging, he just couldn't get close to the prick. Every time he tried he would have to dodge a massive cylindrical blast of wind and sound that kept making the ground uneven, thus making it harder to dodge properly. Sasuke was thinking for a way around that attack when he had to dodge again.

"Come on Uchiha, is that all you got? You're way weaker than I was expecting, I won't even get a good challenge at this point!" Zaku taunted.

Sasuke grit his teeth and dodged once more, throwing an explosive kunai at Zaku who merely blasted it away with his arm cannon. The kunai exploded, the flames heading in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke growled as he dodged his own attack, this was seriously frustrating. And _embarrassing_! He glanced at the damage his kunai dealt and did a double take. There was no way the tag he had wrapped around the handle of that knife was that powerful. when a scorched tree collapsed he realized what had happened. The wind technique had aided the explosion.

Sasuke adopted a manic grin as an idea hit him. He ran back out into the open and stood still in front of Zaku, who smirked at the 'easy prey'.

Zaku aimed both arms and fired an enormous blast three times the size of his others, and Sasuke went through hand seals quickly before aiming a compressed but no less powerful fireball at the center of the wind tunnel.

The flames accelerated and expanded in the tube, rushing towards Zaku and giving him barely enough time to widen his eyes before the firestorm blasted around him.

Then over him.

Then through him.

The smoke of the explosion cleared after a moment to reveal a huge elongated crater, everything within blackened beyond recognition. At the end of the trail of destruction opposite of Sasuke laid the desiccated corpse of Zaku, who's charred bones were all that were left behind.

Sasuke felt ill for a moment before forcing the feeling down, opting to put it off until later.

He heard a shrill scream then silence, and immediately ran to where he remembered Hinata had been.

* * *

Kin was growing frustrated, the girl kept dodging all of her attacks with her Byakugan. She had made the mistake of assuming that Hinata's soft features and softer hair would mean she was an incapable kunoichi.

Obviously she was wrong.

Hinata wasn't completely unscathed, however. She took a senbon in her right forearm, rendering Juken useless with that hand. Added to the fact that was her dominant hand, and Hinata was focused primarily on defense.

Kin was getting tired of wasting her energy, so she pulled out a senbon with a bell on it. She palmed the bell so as to hide it from Hinata before throwing it in with a fistful of standard needles towards Hinata's right.

Hinata saw the wire attached to the needle with the bell, but didn't have time to intercept it due to her useless limb. She dodged the remaining needles before she heard a high-pitched ringing.

The sound was nauseating, and it was interfering with her Byakugan's sight.

She saw multiples of everything, and when the color was washed out and chakra was visible in a 359 degree angle, it was extremely disorienting.

She saw a blue blur racing towards her, and due to the bell's interference with her chakra she overloaded her left arm to make sure she did some actual damage.

She had aimed the open palm strike at where she assumed her opponent's heart was, but she missed and hit beneath her target.

Hinata's glowing palm crashed into Kin's solar plexus, and the overload of chakra was enough to rip apart her liver and stomach on the inside, and snap her spine.

Kin let out the loudest scream Hinata had ever heard, before falling to the ground and jerking in spastic motions. Then she stopped, and stared the the canopy of the forest with lifeless eyes.

After a few moments Hinata's eyes cleared up for her to see what she had done. Her Byakugan was still active, and she could see all of the damage in detail.

She froze and stared wide-eyed at Kin's face before collapsing to the ground with tears flowing.

Sasuke jumped out of a scorched area of forest, "Hinata!"

She made no move to respond, still staring at Kin's lifeless body.

Sasuke came up to her and saw what she was staring at. His eyes widened before he pulled her away, and even though she tried to turn back he turned her to face him, "Hinata, look at me!"

She looked at him when she heard his tone, and then she broke down and hugged him. She started bawling into his shirt, and he had no idea what to so. After a moment he hugged her back.

She calmed down after a bit and looked at her hands, "I murdered her." she sobbed.

"Before she could murder you." Sasuke said firmly, "If you wouldn't have killed her she would have killed you, and then that would have hurt everyone who cared about you. It would have weakened Konoha, and maybe damaged it. You killed her for your family, and your village."

Hinata was about to respond when a massive chakra pressure weighed on everyone in the area. An inhuman roar was heard immediately after, and Hinata was the only one who recognized the undertones of Naruto's voice.

She immediately bolted in that direction, and Sasuke shouted after her before following.

* * *

The puppet's hand was wrapped around Dosu's neck, and he struggled against it's iron grip before Kankuro curled his index finger sharply, and Dosu's neck snapped.

He had Karasu toss the body aside, and he immediately ran to help his sister and the others of the group.

When he got there he heard a loud scream some distance away. He opted to ignore it and went about removing the needles embedded in his sister.

She coughed and sat up, immediately moving over to help the others.

"What are you doing? We should just take Gaara and leave them." Kankuro said while gesturing to their brother's prone form.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Temari snapped, "First of all, we agreed to help them. Second, do you seriously not feel that intent? We're going to need everyone to fight whatever the hell that is."

They heard a loud roar, as well as an intense chakra that flooded their senses.

The siblings shared a look before Kankuro nodded and they began to work quickly on the others.

* * *

The Kusa nin had a strange smirk on her face, it almost looked like it was meant for a different face.

Naruto frowned as he felt the chakra rolling off of this person. How the hell did she manage to hide that much chakra from him?

The woman laughed, "My, Naruto-kun. You certainly have changed since I last saw you. Why, you were only a baby at the time."

Naruto's brow furrowed before his eyes widened, "Orochimaru!"

The 'woman' lost it's grin, "What? How did you recognize me? You were far too young to remember when I was still a part of this village."

Naruto grinned, "Not telling."

"Whatever." Orochimaru said, "However you know, it won't matter once you're dead."

Naruto glared, "Hmph. Let's see if you can accomplish that, snake.

Naruto exploded with violet chakra, the energy quickly forming a tail and cloak around him.

He wasted no time in lunging at the older shinobi, sweeping with his claws after the Sanin's throat.

Orochimaru was caught off guard, and barely dodged the swipe with a backflip.

He stared at Naruto, wondering how he managed to pull up that much of the Kyuubi's chakra that quickly. He noticed the violet hue, and he looked at it intently. _What the hell is going on here?_

Naruto formed another tail, throwing a long claw of chakra at the White Snake.

Orochimaru dodged , but the claw turned around and tried to catch him in the back. He jumped up into the trees, and went through several hand seals.

"Wind Release: Razordarts!" he shouted, firing visible but thin darts of green chakra out of his mouth. They flew at Naruto, and he dodged all except one.

One of them went straight through his cloak and impaled his right collarbone, slicing it in two.

Naruto cursed, but it didn't take long to heal. The area was still sore, but he would live.

He looked around for Orochimaru, and became nervous when he couldn't find him. Snakes strike best from the shadows, after all.

He was proven right as an arm shot out of the dirt in front of him, glowing fingers slamming into his gut.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he gave an earth-shattering roar of rage.

One of the tails behind him sharpened and swung down, severing Orochimaru's arm at the elbow.

Naruto jumped away as far as he could. Random arms, tails, and faces of chakra began appearing on different parts of Naruto's cloak. Rather than a cloak with two tails, the mass of chakra surrounding him was an amalgamation of various body parts without form.

Suddenly each limb stopped moving and reshaped into very long tails. Naruto screamed, and these tails turned upwards, wrapping around each other in a spiral pattern before melting into one another and taking the shape of a very large arm.

Orochimaru, with his arm regenerated, watched in fascination as the giant arm began growing bones at it's core.

* * *

Hinata ran to where she heard the second scream, and her eyes widened as she saw a giant skeletal arm covered in violet chakra forming from where she could see Naruto standing.

"Naruto!" she shouted.

Sasuke ran up behind her and saw the same thing, "Holy shit!"

* * *

Orochimaru turned when he heard Hinata's voice, and smirked happily when he saw Sasuke run up behind her.

He channeled chakra to his legs and shot towards the Uchiha. Both Sasuke and Hinata had their Dojutsu's active, so they saw him coming.

That didn't mean they could stop him though.

His neck extended and his mouth produced fangs. His jaws opened wide and he relished the look of terror in Sasuke's eyes.

Right before his sight turned purple and a human arm blocked his path.

He accidentally bit into the arm instead of Sasuke's neck, and felt the seal formula leave his teeth and inject into the arm.

His eyes widened when he felt something grip his entire body. His neck retracted, and he struggled to escape the grip of the giant arm. It had grown muscles on it, and it squeezed with all it's might.

Orochimaru's body was crushed, his head lolling to the side lifelessly as the hand dripped with blood.

Naruto grunted with exertion as he forced the arm to disintegrate. All of his chakra returned to him, and he used the excess to isolate the seal on his arm. Two glowing white crescent-moon shapes encased the seal.

Naruto stood there for a moment, before passing out completely _._

* * *

 **So what do you think? This one took me a while because I had so much to do in this one, and I was finishing moving while going to college. My schedule this last week had allowed for a maximum of four hours of sleep, with an average of two.**

 **I am very aware that some people will feel like I put too much into this chapter, but I have looked over it several times and I love how it turned out.**

 **So I won't be changing it.**

 **On a side note, I've had this gift card to Walmart in my wallet for four years, and I kept thinking, 'There's no way there's money on that' so I ignored it. I was bored and decided to check the balance on it.**

 **I am now fifty dollars richer.**

 **Please leave reviews, I take every single one into account when I'm writing. It's nice to know what people think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I have decided to change my spelling from Sanin to Sannin. It's correct, and it wasn't before. Expect a lot of things like that as the story changes. I am trying to improve, after all.**

* * *

.

Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke stood outside of the room where Naruto was sleeping. They had made it through the forest with relative ease due to their numbers and despite their weakened state.

They had made it to the tower on in the morning of the second day, and immediately had Iruka contact the Hokage when they arrived.

They gave him their story, and what they witnessed. The Hokage was extremely concerned, and used an emergency seal to contact Jiraiya and call him back. He had told Hinata and Naruto's teammates that they would keep Naruto under observation in the urgent care room of the tower, and that help would be arriving in a day or two.

Sakura was staring at the door from across the hall, mentally going over what she had witnessed.

* * *

 _._

 _They ran to the source of the scream the moment they had the needles removed, but nobody expected the sight they were presented with._

 _Naruto stood at the base of a giant arm that appeared to be lacking skin. There was a woman in the grip of the massive hand, and they arrived just in time to see her body give away and burst into a shower of blood and bone.  
_

 _Naruto had a strange mark on his arm, and more marks appeared surrounding it once the massive arm had absorbed back into him. He collapsed shortly after._

* * *

.

Sakura continued to stare at the door, her mind a jumble of emotions.

Sasuke had said that woman had been about to take a bite out of him, and that Naruto had saved him. That was the only reason Sakura was sitting here now.

She hadn't believed him, when he said he was the Kyuubi. It looked like another ploy to alter his image to her, and so she had dismissed all of his changes as fiction.

Now though...

That amount of chakra was insane, there was not only enough to make it visible, but enough to make it _solid._

Sakura remembered everything she was taught about chakra, and that amount was impossible for a human to have, let alone channel. The only answer was the most obvious one.

Naruto wasn't human.

Sakura thought about what her mom had told her growing up. 'That boy is a monster. A murderer. A demon.'

That day in Nami, she had heard Naruto say that he hadn't wanted to attack Konoha, but that could be a lie. Foxes were known for their guile. A demon who took that form must have taken it for a reason.

She was a smart girl, so she would make her own judgement. But she wouldn't be surprised if Naruto wound up being the demon her mom said he was.

Hinata was pacing outside the door, worry visible on her face. She didn't need to be an expert on Bijuu to know that there was something wrong with what had happened. And that woman...

Even though she had been going to attack Sasuke, she was killed far too brutally. Did Naruto not have as much control as he thought? Or did he do it on purpose? That seal wasn't lethal, at least she didn't think so. What had that woman done to warrant such a horrible death?

Sasuke could tell where Hinata's thoughts had lead, and stood from where he was sitting to go talk to her.

"Hinata," he said, "Naruto has the strength of a tailed beast, and that seal still knocked him out. If that thing had been put on me, it could have killed me. He saved my life."

Hinata sighed, "I know. It's just... did she really need to d-die?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to respond when the building filled with an absolutely malicious chakra.

Insane laughing could be heard from inside Naruto's room, and it didn't sound human at all.

A green blur exploded through the wall, and closer inspection revealed the Chunin who had been guarding Naruto.

Naruto himself flew through the hole he made, landing on all fours in the hallway. He looked around the hall, sniffing the air. His eyes took on a more maroon color, rather than their typical violet.

His head snapped to Hinata, and he stood up in front of her. He took a deep breath through his nose, and his eyes turned to Sasuke.

"I knew I should have killed you." he said with an insane grin. His voice had multiple layers to it, almost as if there were multiple people speaking.

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What?"

"You heard me Sasuke-kun." Naruto chuckled, before wiping his eyes, "Oh look, I'm _**crying**_. Seems like part of me wants you to live. That's just too bad isn't it?" he said mockingly.

"Naruto-kun what are you doing?!" Hinata shouted, "What's wrong?"

Naruto's eyes turned to her, then back to Sasuke, "You just couldn't wait to betray me, could you Sasuke- _kun_? The moment I declare my Chosen, and your scent is all over her. What does that say Sasuke-kun? Come on, **_TELL ME!_** "

Three tails exploded from the base of his spine, and black markings spread up the length of his arm and covered the right side of his face.

The tails had streaks of yellow chakra running through them, and they waved around wildly.

Sasuke jumped back, pulling out a kunai. He didn't know what was happening, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight.

"It says a lot." Naruto continued with tears running down his face even as he smirked, "It tells me your true loyalties. How you would stab me in the back the moment I began to trust you. Well, I'll just get rid of the threat you're becoming. But before I do, I'm going to take those," his voice turned more smooth, " _Magnificent_ **eyes**! Just imagine it, dear Sasuke! The ability to copy Ninjutsu combined with _unlimited_ chakra! I'll be able to learn all the techniques in the world AND be able to use them! I'll destroy EVERYTHING! All of humanity will wither and die, and I will remain. All I need is **YOU**!"

Just as he was about to rush forward, a mane of white spiky hair appeared in front of him and a seal tag was stuck to his forehead.

Naruto's eyes rolled up into his head and the markings on his arm disappeared along with the chakra cloak as he collapsed.

Jiraiya caught him before he hit the ground. He looked sadly at Naruto's face before turning to the Genin in the room, "Don't worry, He didn't mean any of that. It's that seal my old teammate gave him."

Jiraiya left the hall with Naruto, and the Genin looked fairly well shaken. All except one.

Sakura gazed after Naruto with a cold stare, _Looks like you were right after all, mother._

* * *

.

Naruto's unconscious form was laid on the stone floor of an otherwise empty room.

Jiraiya bit a finger and immediately set to work drawing a large sealing array on the floor, holding the small wound open to keep a constant flow. The seal he was drawing centered around Naruto's arm, focusing on the mark given to him by Orochimaru.

"Stop."

Jiraiya jumped slightly at Naruto's voice, "How the hell are you awake? You should be out like a light."

Naruto nodded with a pained expression, "It's difficult. Your seal is certainly effective. My blood feels like it's boiling."

"I can take it off if you think you can control yourself." Jiraiya offered.

"Don't." Naruto said, "I can control myself, but this tag is doing better than I could have hoped. The chakra from Orochimaru's seal is being eradicated by my own. Your tag is causing enough chaos in my chakra network that the mark doesn't have a direct flow. Give it five minutes and it'll be contained to my arm."

"I still need to seal it." Jiraiya said, resuming his drawing.

"Yes, but not like you are now. You're trying to draw a seal for a human body. Just draw a strong stasis seal." Naruto said.

"A stasis seal wouldn't work. That mark is fused with your arm's chakra network. It's not coming off." Jiraiya argued.

"Then remove the arm." Naruto said calmly, "I refuse to be host to a parasite like that. I can regenerate the arm today, and I would rather you take the seal to study it further."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "Regenerate an arm, do you know what you're saying? It is physically not possible for a Jinchuuriki to have that level of chakra control in order to do Iryojutsu on that level. Tsunade, the best medic in the world, would be hard pressed to do that."

Naruto raised a brow, "Did the Hokage not tell you anything?"

Jiraiya stared at him, "Um, I kinda ran here the moment I heard you got a seal from Orochimaru. I didn't even talk to the old man."

Naruto sighed, "Just do as I say and I'll fill you in after we're done. I promise you I can regenerate the arm."

Jiraiya was hesitant, but eventually just decided to comply. He opened and placed a blank scroll under the limb before reopening the wound on his index finger and drawing a different seal directly on Naruto's arm, adding one bold line across his upper arm. He finished the seal and looked at Naruto.

"You sure? It's really going to hurt." Jiraiya said.

"I'll be fine." Naruto said.

Jiraiya nodded and made two handseals before placing his palm in the middle of the seal on Naruto's arm. The formula lit up, covering the limb completely before there was a flash and a yelp of pain from Naruto. He expected pain, but apparently losing a limb from a human body hurt more than in a chakra body.

When the light dissipated, the arm was missing below the line that Jiraiya drew. The sage quickly moved the scroll out of the way to keep the blood off of it, then he grabbed a roll of bandages to tie the arm with.

Just when he was about to give them to Naruto however, the orange-haired boy gripped the stump tightly. A sizzling sound could be heard as steam emanated from where his hand held the wound. Naruto's growled in pain, and when he removed his hand the arm was no longer bleeding, having been cauterized.

Jiraiya just stared dumbly before shaking his head and putting the bandages away, "So what's the story I should have heard from Sarutobi?"

Naruto sighed again, how many times was he going to have to tell this story?

* * *

.

Hinata was trying to think about who that man was. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him.

Sasuke had similar thoughts, "Sakura, do you know who that was?" He figured that she would know, as she was the most book-smart Genin in their group.

"That was Jiraiya-sama, of the Legendary Sannin." Sakura answered, strangely subdued.

"Sannin?!" Hinata exclaimed, eyes wide. Sasuke looked to her questioningly.

Hinata blushed and looked down, "Ano, if the p-person from the forest was Jiraiya-sama's teammate, then what if it was Orochimaru? It can't be Tsunade, it doesn't fit her at all. But if you think about how the woman looked, she did look like Orochimaru a little bit."

"But that's the problem." Sasuke said, "She. She was a woman. Female. Not a guy. Orochimaru is a guy."

Hinata 's brow furrowed in thought. That was true. Besides, she didn't think someone like Orochimaru would be killed off that easily. Naruto was stronger now, true, but Orochimaru was a Sannin and was able to escape the Sandaime.

Her thoughts were cut short as the door opened to reveal Naruto and Jiraiya, who had thoughtful and absent expression on his face.

But what caught their interest was Naruto's lack of a right arm.

Hinata got up out of her chair and rushed over to him, gently grabbing his arm, "Are you alright, Naruto-kun!? What happened?" she glared at Jiraiya slightly, "Did you do this to him?"

"Yes he did." Naruto said, and Hinata turned red in anger for once. Jiraiya prepared to start yelling at Naruto when he spoke again, "Because I made him. I wanted that seal to be removed from my body, and regenerating the arm will be no trouble. It's already grown an inch after I cauterized it."

Hinata calmed down but still looked at him with a worried and confused expression.

Naruto looked at everyone in the room, "I... severely apologize for my actions and words earlier. Orochimaru's chakra mixed in with my own, and because it contained Nature Energy and a bit of Orochimaru's consciousness, his mind fused with ours temporarily. For a moment, I was no longer Kurama and Naruto, but I was Kurama and Orochimaru. Naruto could barely cry as those two stronger forces pushed him aside. It's a problem I didn't know could happen. I'm going to need to fix that in the future."

Sakura scoffed, "That's a very convenient, and convoluted excuse."

Naruto looked at her with his brows furrowed, "Hm? You think I lie?"

"That's exactly what I think, _Kyuubi_." she spat.

Naruto frowned, before turning away and walking to the far side of the room, where he sat down cross-legged.

Sakura kept glaring, "Nothing to say, huh demon?"

"Nothing to change your belief. I know the emotions you feel and the look in your eyes. Lies for the weak. Beacons for the deluded. Your kind are those who tormented Naruto from his birth, and fractured his mind. Fusing with a Tailed Beast was arguably the best thing that happened to him, and it is due to you and yours. I take no stock in your words. When greater powers than yours collide, you will be food. Nothing more." Naruto said, his voice much more reminiscent of Kurama than Naruto. Despite his words, you could see that he was affected.

Sakura made to retort, but in her anger she hadn't noticed Hinata approach.

A loud slap rang through the room, and Sakura blinked while cupping her cheek, "Hinata."

"You have no right to judge Naruto, you aren't even worthy of judging Kurama." Hinata said with her Byakugan active, "You've had your whole life carefully constructed by your parents, you only even became a ninja with Sasuke as your goal. You didn't even have a real reason."

Sakura grit her teeth, "You're one to talk, don't you remember that I graduated higher than you?"

"You read more than I did, because I was actually training. We have the same level of chakra control, even though I have much more than you." Hinata retorted. She wasn't sure why she was getting so angry, but she was, and she didn't want to calm down.

Sakura tensed up, prepared for violence, when a crushing feeling of malice filled the room.

Naruto sat where he was, with one eye opened wide to stare at Sakura. The girl froze as she saw herself being killed.

Naruto continued to stare, "You seem to be lacking reason. Hinata is far more important to me at the moment than you, so it would only be _reasonable_ to assume that a threat against her wouldn't be tolerated. Yet you did just that." Naruto stared at the terrified girl for a moment longer before the pressure disappeared completely, "Leave."

Sakura hesitated, her stubbornness rearing it's head.

 **"LEAVE!"** Naruto's voice boomed, and the pressure returned tenfold, cracking the wall behind him and the floor he sat on.

Sakura jumped and walked quickly out of the room, pale and nauseous.

The pressure disappeared again, and Naruto closed his eyes again. The room was silent for several minutes, because nobody could think of something to say.

After a while, the air in the room seemed tense and charged. Hinata and Sasuke assumed it was due to what had just happened, but Jiraiya recognized it for what it was.

"Naruto! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jiraiya shouted in panic.

"Entering Senkeitai. You call it Sage Mode." Naruto responded calmly.

"I'm ordering you to stop." Jiraiya said sternly, "You can't control Nature Energy."

"Oh please," Naruto scoffed, "What do you think a Bijuu _is_? We ourselves are simple consciousnesses, inhabiting a body of chakra. We can't be killed, as we reform over time. Did you think that the chakra bodies just vanished after we die? We build our bodies from Nature Energy. It is central to our very existence. _You_ are the one who can't control Sage Mode. I remember from Kurama's time in Kushina." As he was saying this, black marks began forming around his eyes and peaking down the sides of his nose. His whisker marks turned into black bars that went across his face and fully down his neck.

"It's much easier to heal in Senkeitai. That's why I'm doing this." Naruto said. Moments later, the arm started growing back visibly. First the bones formed, after half a minute completing a skeletal arm. The muscles formed much faster, the fibers running down the length of the arm. Veins crisscrossed the completed muscles and soon the skin covered the arm completely. Hinata and Sasuke noted that it was exactly the same as the giant arm in the forest. Naruto flexed his fingers and wrist, sending many loud cracks resonating through the room.

Jiraiya winced at the unpleasant sound, "Naruto. We need to talk, in private."

"Say what you will, but I'm not going anywhere. _Many_ different threats have shown themselves in the last few days. I will not be leaving Sasuke and Hinata alone."

Sasuke frowned, "You don't think we can protect ourselves? Me and Hinata both killed one of those Oto Genin on our own. Kankuro got the last one."

Naruto looked at him, "While I am pleased that team was killed, you do not have the strength to fight off Orochimaru. And I doubt you could catch him unaware without me here."

"So it _was_ Orochimaru." Hinata said, "But didn't you kill him?"

Jiraiya gave a dry chuckle, "Orochimaru doesn't simply _die._ He always has a backup plan for even the most trivial tasks. When we were in the same team, Orochimaru would have three different contingencies for D-Rank missions. He wouldn't come to Konoha without at least twenty. Plus, he was working on an Immortality technique when he left. My guess is he's finished it."

* * *

.

Back in the forest, a small white snake carefully moved through the brush. It's vibrant yellow eyes scanning the forest for any possible threats.

 _'I hate this form. Reduced from the strongest in the world to a worm fearing the weight of a boot.'_ Orochimaru thought to himself. Still, it was better than being _fully_ dead. The mangled carcass of his former body was a testament to how close his death had approached him.

 _'I suppose the fear of death is what sparks evolution. I obviously need to be stronger. I shouldn't have been felled by that..._ _thing. No matter how powerful it was. This is unacceptable.'_

The serpent closed his eyes and stretched out his senses, feeling for the link to his own chakra elsewhere in the world. he found one in the direction of the tower, noting with mixed feelings the fact that it was no longer attached to a body. Judging by the lack of actual chakra where his soul fragment was, they had either managed to seal the mark or had sealed the limb itself.

Refocusing, he searched for another source. His last resort. The other Genin he brought had no curse seals, and were dead besides.

He mentally sighed with disappointment. Kabuto had proven exceptionally useful, but he supposed his ambition was growing unchecked anyway.

It wasn't all bad. The White Snake's apprentice possessed remarkable durability and healing. And he would have access to all of the projects and experiments that Kabuto had been conducting without his knowledge. Of course he knew Kabuto was hiding things. He had encouraged him to do so.

He felt for the rather unique seal that Kabuto wore. A seal the medic himself was unaware of.

The snake squashed the small bit of remorse that reared its head.

* * *

 **.**

 **Alright, here is the next chapter. I was going to make it longer but you already waited too long. I am very aware of how spastic I am regarding updates.**

 **Let me know what you think, I need my motivation lit.**


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